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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – State College, Pa. — 6 January 2011 — AccuWeather reports as AccuWeather.com warned about before the start of the new year, the atmosphere will roll out frigid air over a large part of the U.S. during week three of January.
During the early part of week two of January, a cold air mass over northwestern Canada and Alaska will be getting colder under clear skies, with no effective sunshine.
Later that week, this air mass will begin to move southward.
As Long Range Expert Meteorologist Joe Bastardi suggested, the cold will continue to spread out from the northern Plains during weeks two and three this month. This January could end up being the coldest for the nation since 1985.
By week three, part of the Pacific Northwest will “feel it,” but the main thrust will aim farther east over the Plains, Midwest, South, and eventually the East.
The result of the cold may be several below-zero days for highs on the northern Plains and in the Upper Midwest with potential for near-zero highs in parts of the Ohio Valley.
Single-digit highs may be felt in the central Appalachians, with highs in the teens in parts of the South, and eventually the I-95 Northeast, as week three progresses, where the cold will take a round-about way in from the west.
While people and equipment over the northern Plains can handle this type of cold, it will prove to be dangerous, if not life-threatening, where wind becomes involved.
Even lovers of cold may not want this once the bills start rolling in for it.
The severe cold could have water pipes freezing in homes, water lines bursting in some communities, and plenty of pain at the gas pump and when people get their January heating bills.
The severe cold may delay shipping fruit and vegetables cross-country, or risk damage due to the low temperatures in unprotected trailers.
No doubt this year’s La Nina is not living up to typical expectations. However, you must remember that, similar to a bell curve in a college course grading system, not everything fits neatly in the middle.
Additionally, there are other forces at work in the atmosphere and elsewhere that the meteorological community is just beginning to understand.
While Bastardi changed his outlook on January early on during December, some meteorologists outside of AccuWeather.com continued to be puzzled about statements of severe January cold even after the first of the year.
By Alex Sosnowski, senior expert meteorologist for AccuWeather.com
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